World

Op-edSharaa in Washington: A Turning Point for Syria

Seth J. Frantzman 16:00 - Reading : 8 minute(s)

Syria Washington United States Donald Trump Ahmad al-Sharaa

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa visited the White House on Monday for a historic meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump that capped a year in which Damascus has rapidly come in from the cold and reintegrated into the international community. Sharaa has helped steer Syria through this complex path, beginning with pushing the Assad regime out of ...

House Vote on Ending US Government Shutdown

This is Beirut 15:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

USA Donald Trump Republicans Democrat shutdown

The effort to end the longest US government shutdown heads toward a final vote Wednesday, as President Donald Trump declared victory in the political face-off and rival Democrats tore themselves apart over the deal. The House of Representatives appeared likely to vote Wednesday on a spending bill to solve the six-week standoff, after eight ...

42 Feared Dead in Migrant Shipwreck Off Libya: UN

This is Beirut 14:20 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Libya Migration Refugee Accident UN IOM

The United Nations said Wednesday that 42 migrants were missing, presumed dead, after a rubber boat capsized off the Libyan coast last week. It was the latest in a series of similar disasters in a stretch of the Mediterranean Sea that has claimed the lives of more than a thousand people so far this year. Only seven survivors were rescued after ...

Iraq's Sudani Secures 'Major Victory' in General Election: Sources Close to PM

This is Beirut 12:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Iraq Vote Sudani Elections

The list backing incumbent Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has scored a big win in parliament after elections, sources close to his alliance told AFP on Wednesday. Sudani's "Reconstruction and Development list has secured a major victory" following the vote on Tuesday, an official close to the premier told AFP. Another two sources ...

Israel Says Key Crossing to North Gaza Opens for Humanitarian Aid

This is Beirut 11:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Palestine United Nations Crossing

Israel said it had opened a key crossing into northern Gaza on Wednesday to allow the entry of humanitarian aid supplied by the United Nations and other international organizations. "Today, the Zikim crossing has been opened for the entry of humanitarian aid trucks into the Gaza Strip," COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body that ...

SpotlightNeural Nostalgia: The Calming Power of the Music of Our Youth

Bélinda Ibrahim 10:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Neural Nostalgia Music Science Feel Good

Tuning into an FM station, an old hit slips in between news flashes, and suddenly everything comes rushing back: the taste of an adolescent summer, the warmth of a first love, the carefree lightness of youth. Why do these songs, sometimes simple or even innocent, have such a powerful effect on our mood? In a world where nostalgia seeps into ...

Israel Negotiator Dermer Resigns from Ministerial Post

This is Beirut 09:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas Palestine

Israel's strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, who also led negotiations for the Gaza ceasefire, has announced his resignation from his ministerial post following the return of hostages held in the Palestinian territory. Dermer, a close aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, spearheaded months of intense negotiations that resulted in the ...

House Vote Likely Wednesday on Ending US Government Shutdown

This is Beirut 09:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

USA Democrats Donald Trump Republicans New York

The effort to end the longest-ever US government shutdown heads Wednesday toward a final vote, as President Donald Trump declared victory in the political face-off and rival Democrats tore themselves apart over the deal. The House of Representatives appeared likely to vote Wednesday on a spending bill to solve the six-week standoff, after eight ...

Turkey Says Military Plane Crash in Georgia Killed all 20 On Board

This is Beirut 09:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Turkey Military Georgia Azerbaijan Crash

Turkey on Wednesday said all 20 people onboard a military cargo plane that crashed in Georgia on its return from Azerbaijan had died. The plane had taken off from Ganja airport in western Azerbaijan on Tuesday afternoon but crashed shortly after crossing the border into eastern Georgia, the defense ministry said after the incident. It said there ...

Focus'Killed on sight': Sudanese Fleeing El-Fasher Recall Ethnic Attacks

This is Beirut 09:15 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Sudan Conflict Rights Elfasher

As he fled the Sudanese city of El-Fasher in terror, Hassan Osman said he saw ethnic attacks by paramilitary forces, with civilians targeted for their tribe and skin color. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been at war with the army since April 2023, captured their last stronghold in western Darfur on October 26. Reports of mass ...

Arrival of US Aircraft Carrier Fuels Venezuelan Fears of Attack

This is Beirut 09:10 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

USA Donald Trump United Kingdom Venezuela

A US aircraft carrier strike group arrived in Latin America Tuesday, escalating a military buildup Venezuela has warned could trigger a full-blown conflict, as it announced its own "massive" deployment. The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, entered an area under control of the US Naval Forces Southern Command, which ...

Syria and Israel in Direct Talks, Sharaa Says Damascus Ready for ‘New Chapter’ With U.S.

This is Beirut 09:00 - Reading : 8 minute(s)

Donald Trump Gulf Israel United States US Congress

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa confirmed that Syria and Israel have begun direct negotiations for the first time in half a century, signaling a major diplomatic shift in the Middle East as Damascus also seeks to rebuild relations with the United States after decades of hostility. In an interview with The Washington Post after his meeting with ...